"Peas 'n Honey" goes to Festival

I'm thrilled to have been accepted into the juried invitational exhibit, "Affinity", hosted by Leslie Tucker Jenison's and Jamie Fingal's Dinner at Eight Artists for the 2015 International Quilt Festival. According the rules for entry, the theme of "Affinity" could be interpreted by the artist in any way he or she chose, and I decided to portray my affinity for humor in art.

I've always loved the inclusion of humor, whether overt or subtle, in any form of art. Much of my own artwork reflects my sense of humor, even if it is sometimes apparent only to myself.

For this submission, I wanted to use a favorite old poem by Ogden Nash. It became slightly mangled over the years of oral repetition by my family since its original printing in 1944, but it remains essentially the same ...

I eats my peas with honey,
I've done it all my life
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps 'em on my knife.

Peas 'n Honey, 40" x 40", Silk Charmeuse

Peas 'n Honey, detail

I feel honored to be in the company of these fine fiber artists for this exhibit:

Frances Holliday Alford
Linda C. Anderson
Sue Bleiweiss
Loris Bogue
Deborah Boschert
Cindy Cooksey
Lauretta K. Crites
Diane R. Doran
Jane E. Dunnewold
Robbi Joy Eklow
Suzan Engler
Barb Forrister
Lyric M. Kinard
Susan Fletcher King
Karol Kusmaul
Cathie I. Hoover
Stacy Hurt
Susan Brubaker Knapp
Sandra E. Lauterbach
Jeannie P. Moore
Susie Monday
Rachel K. Parris
Andi Perejda
Judy Coates Perez
Yvonne Porcella
Heather Pregger
Wen Redmond
Cynthia St. Charles
Julie Schlueter
Gayle Simpson
Sarah Ann Smith
Virginia A. Spiegel
Terri Stegmiller
Ann E. Turley
Larkin Jean Van Horn
Valerie C. White
Kathy York
and, of course,
Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison

House art-quilt for Wounded Warrior

Have you ever "lost" something on your computer?  Well, that's what happened to me... I just now found this Draft of a post from back in December of 2012.  I had evidently never posted it!  Anyway, here it is, at last.
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Jamie Fingal, who is one of the busiest and kindest people I know, created and sponsors "The House Quilt Project", which delivers art-quilts to several worthy organizations.  One is Furnishing Hope, which helps those in need, as well as Habitat for Humanity and Wounded Warriors.

I finally got around to finishing this one, and will send it off to Jamie tomorrow.

Flag-roofed House for Wounded Warriors
Painted wholecloth quilt, 12" x 16"
I used Tsukineko inks, to keep the fabric soft.

Here is the back, including the dedication label and instructions
"not to wash"!  There are also two hanging beads in the upper corners.

Jamie, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to do something as a small thank-you to our service members who return home wounded.  It's an honor.

Quilt Festival 2011, Part 4 ... some quilts and friends

First, some quilts made by some very dear friends of mine ... in the category of Texas Guilds' Award Winning Traditional Quilts, 2011:

Total Eclipse, by Sharon Dixon

1950's Santa Quilt, by Barbara Wafer; quilted by Barb Knoblock

Flowers in My Cabin, by Shirley Chriss; quilted by Linda Teddlie Minton

Flowers in My Cabin, detail

Flowers in My Cabin, quilting detail

Standing Strong, by Sharon Dixon

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One night several of us walked to an unfamiliar restaurant several blocks from the hotel for dinner.  It was cold and windy (unusual for Houston!) but we had a wonderful time.

Maggie Winfield and me ... our yearly snuggle.

Best buds Sharon Dixon and Jody Gantz having a giggle ... before or after margaritas?

A tiny glimpse of the huge Food Court at the GRB Convention Center.

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In yesterday's post, I showed a picture of "Alice's Odyssey", a group challenge quilt made by 16 members of the Beyond the Borders art-quilt group in Katy, Texas.  Here are some of the members, gathered at different times in front of the exhibit.

Exhibit placard -- it was a single-quilt exhibit!

Connie Fahrion, Hannah Mallon, Sara Norris, Elaine Connelly, Cathy Winter 

Sitting: Nancy B. Dickey, Linda Teddlie Minton, Ann Schaefer, Cathy Winter
Standing: Cheryl Johnson, Jo Sweet

and here's the quilt again, so you don't have to flip back to look for it:

Alice's Odyssey
Each puzzle piece was created by a different artist, based on a chosen
theme from Alice in Wonderland and conformed to a specific puzzle shape
in order to fit in with the others.  The edges were satin stitched, and the
individual pieces were painstakingly assembled onto a quilted background by
Nancy Dickey.

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On Friday night, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison gathered all of the participants they could, of the "Space Between" exhibit sponsored by their Dinner at Eight Artists group.  We had dinner at Spencer's Steakhouse in the Hilton Americas Hotel ... a fabulous (and fabulously expensive!) restaurant worthy of our exalted presence.  We even had the Chef's Table, along with appropriately superb service.  Here are just a few of the more sedate (?) moments of the evening.

Karen Rips and Rachel Parris

Susan Brubaker Knapp & Leslie Tucker Jenison

Frances Holliday Alford & Gerrie Congdon

Barb Forrester and Susan Fletcher King

Jamie Fingal and me

Susan Fletcher King and Judy Coates Perez
(don't hate her for wearing a fur coat ... I think that's Barb's hair on Susan's shoulder!)

The Adorable Deb Boschert and the Inimitable Jamie Fingal debate wine choices.

Judy and her daughter Indigo Perez.  Indigo is a fine artist in her own right,
and always a welcome addition to our table.

Leslie starts us off with the D@8 tradition of "spoonology" ... a fine old art.

Susan B.K. shows us how it's done.

Terry Grant gets it right the first time!

Barb carries it off with aplomb.

Jane LaFazio sets up her spoon

Susan F.K. looks like she's been doing it all her life.

Step 1:  Frances misunderstands the concept.

Step 2:  Frances reinterprets the concept.

Step 3:  Frances shows us how easy it really is.

The end of a long but lovely day.

The Antechamber revealed

It's here!  The book (catalog) for Dinner at Eight's current exhibit, "The Space Between", is now available for ordering at Blurb.com.  Here's the direct link ... you can even preview all the pages.  (Thank you again, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, for curating this beautiful show, and thanks to Loris Bogue for creating the book!)

Now that the catalog is published, I can show my entry, "The Antechamber":

The Antechamber, 36" x 48"

The Antechamber is an entryway, a waiting room … the space between.  The space between city and country, stress and tranquility, sophistication and simplicity.   I want to step through this antechamber into that other world.

Materials:  printable silk fabric sheets; silk dyes; cotton, rayon, and metallic threads; iridescent medium; Tsukineko inks.

Techniques:  digital altering, silk painting, machine quilting, hand-painting with inks.

I hope you get to see this exhibit in person, opening at the International Quilt Festival, July 29-31, in Long Beach, California.  If not, treat yourself to the catalog for some wonderful fiber art.

The Space Between - Interview

I was so thrilled to be juried into the invitational exhibit "The Space Between", co-curated by Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal.  And today was my "day in the sun", when I was the featured artist on their Dinner at Eight Artists blog.  Please take a look, then be sure to read about the other artists too ... we are all just fascinating!   ;^)

The Space Between

I was thrilled to learn this past weekend that my 36x48" art quilt, "The Antechamber" had been juried into the Dinner at Eight Artists' new exhibit, The Space Between.  Here's a little sneak preview, just to whet your appetite.

The Antechamber (detail)

The curators, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, invited a number of fiber artists to submit their work for the exhibit.  It will first be viewed at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago, sponsored by Moore's Sewing Centers, followed by the IQF in Houston, once a sponsor is found.


My entry for last year, "The Key", is still traveling with their Beneath the Surface exhibit.  It started out in Chicago and Houston, sponsored by Mistyfuse, and will next be seen at the IQF in Cincinnati.

The Key

If you have a few minutes, give yourself a little mini-break and go to the Dinner at Eight Artists blog to read some of the Artist's Profiles that are starting to be posted for this year's exhibit.  Today's profile is by Judy Coates Perez, yesterday's was by Susan Brubaker Knapp, and the first one was by ... drumroll, please ... Yvonne Porcella.  These are all fascinating artists, and I'm inspired by each of them.  Go ahead, indulge yourself, for just a few minutes!  You'll be glad you did.

Urban Footscape

Today seems to be my day for posting pictures.  After having lost the Silent Auction bid I had placed on Jamie Fingal's "Urban Footscape" piece, I had the good luck of buying one of her small pieces in this series.  Here's a picture of it as it hangs on my office wall.  It is only 5" x 7", but is one of the most dynamic pieces of art in my little collection.  Thank you, Jamie!

"I Want to Create With My Hands"
I absolutely LOVE this little work of art.

Painted Shoes at Quilt Festival

How fun to see 4 of my pairs of painted shoes published in Leslie Tucker Jenison's article in the current International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene.

The article is about what people wear to quilt shows.  My shoes are shown on the top row, 3rd and 5th pics, plus the bottom two pics.  (See my earlier posts on "shoes" for more detail of the shoes themselves.)  I know The Ever Adorable Maggie Winfield also has 3 pairs shown, and I recognize Jamie Fingal's famous Doc Martens.

I do have some pictures from Festival to post ... whenever I can find the time!

"The Key" at Quilt Festival

Pamela Klebaum, Sherry Kleinman, Cynthia St. Charles and Linda Teddlie Minton

See the Dinner at Eight Artists blog for more pictures from the Beneath the Surface exhibit.  Once again, thank you, Jamie Fingal, Leslie Tucker Jenison for co-curating, and Iris Karp of Mistyfuse for sponsoring the exhibit.

"The Key" at Long Beach Quilt Festival

I had a couple of nice surprises with these two videos, in both of which my art quilt, "The Key", is highlighted.  Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison curated the exhibit, "Beneath the Surface", and did an incredible job with it.

The first video about "Beneath the Surface" is at Dinner at Eight's blog ... it is introduced by Rhianna White, and includes short interviews with both Jamie and Leslie.  Here's the direct link to the Quilts, Inc. video.  You will need to click on "Videos", and then on "Beneath the Surface".

The second video is by Luana Rubin of eQuilter.  She is highlighting some of her favorite quilts at the Festival, including some from "Beneath the Surface".  Luana is a specialty fabric designer, and I'm thrilled that "The Key" is included in her "favorites".

It was fun to get to see a bit of a "sneak preview" of what will also be at the Houston International Quilt Festival this Fall.

Beneath the Surface Catalog

The other day I received my catalog for the Beneath the Surface exhibit.  It's a beautiful little book, 6-3/4" square, displaying the artwork of all 37 artists who were juried into this invitational exhibit.  Each artist has a page with her artist's statement, and a facing full-page image of her fiber art.

                                                                    ( Front Cover)

(Back Cover)

The rules for entering were a 36" x 48" size (vertical orientation) created with the artist's original design, interpreting the theme of "Beneath the Surface" as desired.

The Key, 36" x 48"
Linda Teddlie Minton

The Key, detail

The Key:  A human form, viewed as if with x-ray vision; semi-submerged, revealing floating organs and cells, along with a key ... to what?

X-ray image, scanned and manipulated in Photoshop, printed on cotton fabric.  Colored with Caran d'Ache water-soluble wax pastels, machine quilted.


Beneath the Surface is presented by Dinner at Eight Artists; curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, and will be exhibited at Quilt Festival in Long Beach, California next week.  It will then travel to the Houston Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas in November.

Dinner at Eight - My Artist's Profile

Thanks to Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, and their Dinner at Eight Artists, my Artist's Profile was featured yesterday on their blog. Go see it if you have a minute.

They are profiling all the artists who were invited and juried into their "Beneath the Surface" exhibit which will be premiering at Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA. My 36" x 48" entry is titled "The Key", and here is a detail shot as a teaser.